Oladapo Afolayan

Oladapo Joshua Afolayan (born 11 September 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club West Ham United.

Oladapo Afolayan
Afolayan playing Solihull Moors in 2017
Personal information
Full name Oladapo Joshua Afolayan[1]
Date of birth (1997-09-11) 11 September 1997
Place of birth Harrow, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 West Ham United
Number 40
Youth career
2002–2006 Harrow St Marys
2006–2013 Chelsea
2013–2015 Toronto FC
2015–2016 Barnet
2016 Tooting & Mitcham United
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Toronto Varsity Blues 11 (1)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Loughborough University 11 (3)
2017–2018 Solihull Moors 45 (15)
2018– West Ham United 0 (0)
2019 → Oldham Athletic (loan) 10 (0)
2019–2020 → Mansfield Town (loan) 6 (1)
National team
2017 England C 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:08, 4 July 2020 (UTC)

He spent his youth at a multitude of clubs: Harrow St Marys, Chelsea, Toronto FC, Barnet, Tooting & Mitcham United and Toronto Varsity Blues. He left the Chelsea academy in order to continue his schooling in Canada, but returned to England to study at Loughborough University. He signed with Solihull Moors in February 2017 and scored 15 goals in 50 appearances, winning a move to Premier League club West Ham United 12 months later; he was also capped by the England C team. He spent the second half of the 2018–19 season on loan at Oldham Athletic and the first half of the 2019–20 campaign on loan at Mansfield Town.

Club career

Early career

Afolayan joined Harrow St Marys at under-5 level and moved into the youth system at Chelsea at the age of nine, having turned down the chance of a rival offer from Arsenal.[3][4][5] He struggled with his short stature as a teenager and was restricted to playing as a winger.[4] He left Chelsea at the age of 14 so that academy football did not get in the way of his schooling.[6] At the age of 15, Afolayan moved to Canada and spent time in Toronto FC's reserve squad as well as playing for Toronto Varsity Blues.[7] He later said that despite being just 16 he "trained with the first team quite a bit and played with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco".[5]

Afolayan returned to England at the age of 18 to study a civil engineering degree at Loughborough University. He spent time playing youth football at Barnet and Tooting & Mitcham United.[8] He went on to play for the Loughborough University football team whilst studying, scoring three goals in 11 appearances for the club in the Midland League.[9]

Solihull Moors

On 7 February 2017, Afolayan signed for National League club Solihull Moors; he had previously been on trial at Rochdale.[10] Four days after joining the Moors, Afolayan scored on his debut, scoring the final goal in a 3–0 win over Sutton United at Damson Park.[11] He scored four goals in 15 games in the 2016–17 season and turned fully professional at the club in the summer, switching his engineering degree at Loughborough University for an online course.[6] He also spent time at Jamie Vardy's V9 Academy.[12] On 27 January 2018, Afolayan scored in his final game for the club, in a 3–1 win against Dagenham & Redbridge.[13] Despite leaving the club half way through the campaign, he was Solihull's top-scorer for the entire 2017–18 season with 11 goals in 35 matches; Solohull ended the season in 18th place under the stewardship of Mark Yates.

West Ham United

On 1 February 2018, Afolayan signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Premier League club West Ham United.[14] On 31 January 2019, he joined League Two side Oldham Athletic on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.[15] He made his Football League debut for the "Latics" in a 3–1 loss away to Bury on 23 February; he came onto the pitch as a 76th-minute substitute for Zak Dearnley.[16] In total he made four starts and six substitute appearances during his time at Boundary Park and said he learned a lot form working under manager Paul Scholes.[17]

He returned to League Two on a half-season loan with Mansfield Town on 29 August 2019.[18] He scored his first Football League goal on 12 October, in a 6–1 win over former club Oldham Athletic at Field Mill; he also won a penalty in the game.[19] Manager John Dempster "what impressed me was the distance he covered. He was pressing all over the pitch. He ran himself into the ground".[20]

International career

Afolayan won a cap for Paul Fairclough's England C team on 8 November 2017, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Fejiri Okenabirhie in a 4–0 defeat to eventual International Challenge Trophy winners Slovakia U23.[21]

Style of play

Afolayan is a forward; West Ham Academy director Terry Westley said that he is an "interesting player" who is "aggressive, has great pace and the knack of scoring goal".[22]

Career statistics
As of match played 12 November 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Loughborough University 2016–17[9] Midland League Premier Division 113000000113
Solihull Moors 2016–17[23] National League 154000000154
2017–18[23] National League 301130002[lower-alpha 1]03511
Total 45153000205015
West Ham United 2018–19[24] Premier League 0000000000
2019–20[25] Premier League 0000000000
Total 0000000000
Oldham Athletic (loan) 2018–19[24] League Two 100000000100
Mansfield Town (loan) 2019–20[25] League Two 6100002[lower-alpha 2]081
Career total 72193000407919
  1. Appearance/s in the FA Trophy.
  2. Appearance/s in the EFL Trophy.

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Mansfield Town" (PDF). English Football League. p. 41. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  2. "Oladapo Afolayan Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  3. "Oladapo Afolayan". West Ham United F.C. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  4. "Academy Spotlight: Oladapo Afolayan | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  5. "From Toronto to Solihull: the rise of Solihull Moors striker Dapo Afolayan". Solihull Observer. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  6. Evans, Chris (16 February 2018). "Dapo Afolayan: The forward who turned down Chelsea for non-league". The Set Pieces. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  7. "Dapo Afolayan". Ontario University Athletics. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  8. "Solihull Moors boss Liam McDonald delighted to secure former Chelsea kid Oladapo Afolayan". Solihull Observer. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  9. "Total Motion Midland Football League". Football Association. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  10. "Moors bolster strikeforce". Solihull Moors F.C. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  11. "Solihull Moors 3–0 Sutton United". BBC Sport. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  12. "Oladapo Afolayan | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  13. "Dagenham & Redbridge 1–3 Solihull Moors". BBC Sport. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  14. "West Ham snap up forward Oladapo Afolayan". West Ham United F.C. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  15. "Afolayan joins Oldham Athletic on loan". West Ham United F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  16. "Bury 3–1 Oldham Athletic". BBC Sport. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  17. "Afolayan: I can't wait for the first pre-season test | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  18. "Oladapo Afolayan: Mansfield Town sign West Ham United forward on loan". BBC Sport. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  19. "Mansfield Town 6-1 Oldham Athletic: Dino Maamria 'bemused' at double sending off". BBC Sport. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  20. Owen, Danny (14 October 2019). "'Huge asset': West Ham loanee Dapo Afolayan shines in Mansfield thrashing". HITC. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  21. "Slovakia 4-0 England C". www.thefa.com. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  22. "West Ham snap up forward Oladapo Afolayan | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  23. Oladapo Afolayan at Soccerway
  24. "Games played by Oladapo Afolayan in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  25. "Games played by Oladapo Afolayan in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
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